CC5 Twyn yr Oerfel (RVR5)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is the fifth of a series, the “Caerphilly Collection”, that will explore the whole Borough Council area. This cache is also the fifth of a subset along the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Footpath. Bedwas, Trethomas and Cwmfelinfach are suggested starting points from which you should expect a minimum walk of 2 miles with 1000’ of ascent. Depending on the route chosen, you may encounter steep, rough, wet or muddy trails. The container is a medium sized plastic lunch box.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and is made up of 50 caches. The caches vary in difficulty and type and usually have other “C” word connections – castle, cheese, coal, canal, etc. There may even be Cryptic Clues for Clever Clogs! The current Caerphilly unitary authority grew out of the former Rhymney Valley and Islwyn Councils and stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south to the Brecon Beacons, north of Rhymney. Despite a past dominated by coal and heavy industry, it has a diverse history and varied and dramatic scenery. We hope you will enjoy exploring it with us.
Towards the end of the Collection is CC48 The Accumulator, the location of which is given in coded form. The translation details of the code are distributed around the whole Collection, but only about a third of the caches will contain a piece of the code, which is on the back of the Log Book. To do the Accumulator, you will need to keep a note of each piece of code that you find. Unless you are very lucky, you will need to find the majority of the Collection in order to do the Accumulator. The Accumulator cache is hidden in an area of difficult terrain and demanding navigation, with a 5,4½ rating.
CC5 is also the fifth of a subset of the main series, which will visit locations on the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Footpath – hence the RVR5 suffix. There a good views from Twyn yr Oerfel (Cold Hillock), especially over and into the Sirhowy Valley. If, like us, you struggle with Welsh pronunciation, this name may sound like awful – perhaps a fitting reference to the huge spoil heap that creates the artificial high point of Mynydd y Grug nearby. Given time, nature usually heals the scars created by humans but, in this case, it has been making slow progress. Man has tinkered with the shape of the tip recently: it may have a better profile, but it now has a much blacker complexion … and, for much of the surface, recovery has been put back by 20 years. Just a little help to encourage initial vegetation would make an enormous difference.
Although we hope that cachers will approach from the adjacent valleys, we have to acknowledge that 4WD’s use this section of the RVR. We have even seen conventional vehicles up here, but we wouldn’t recommend it, if you care about your car (see image for proof!). If you want to use wheels, this is excellent mountain bike territory.
As it is our intention to encourage more extensive exploration of the area and the RVR Footpath, we would suggest tackling this cache with either, or both, of the adjacent CC4 and CC6 caches. A pair of caches in a circular walk would involve perhaps 5-8 miles, but not a great deal more ascent. To do all three, you should expect a total distance of about 13 miles – with this option, the alternative meaning of CC might be courageous cachers! If you can organise transport to both ends, all three caches can be picked up in the 8½ mile (with 1300’ of ascent) section of the RVR Footpath from Maesycymmer to Machen.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Nobhg 600zz sebz prager bs fubeg yratgu bs jnvfg uvtu jnyy, ohg ABG va jnyy.